Best No Foreign Transaction Fee Rewards Credit Cards

While traveling abroad, one of the last things you want to do is pay a foreign transaction fee. Thankfully there are several great credit cards to choose from without these pesky fees. Here is a list of the best no foreign transaction fee rewards credit cards.

Barclaycard Arrival Plus

Annual Fee: $89 (Waived the first year)

Sign-up bonus: 50,000 bonus miles after spending $3,000

The Barclaycard Arrival Plus has a unique redemption option. It has a flat redemption rate of 100 points per mile, but offers a 5% redemption bonus allowing you to use points for future awards flights. This means the 50,000 point sign-up bonus will buy you a $500 ticket today and the 5% redemption bonus will put 2,500 points back into your Barclaycard account. The Arrival Plus also earns 2 miles on every purchase, regardless of spending category.

JetBlue Plus Card

Annual Fee: $99

Sign-Up Bonus: 30,000 points after spending $1,000

If you like to fly JetBlue, the JetBlue Plus card might be the card for you. While most of their flights are domestic, you can also fly to the Caribbean and northern South America. Reward flights start at 3,500 points and cardholders earn a 10% redemption bonus. The JetBlue Plus earns 6 points on all JetBlue flights, 2 points at restaurants and grocery stores, and 1 point on all other purchases. Recurring JetBlue Plus benefits also include one free checked bag, a 5,000 point anniversary bonus, and 50% savings on inflight purchases.

For those that do not want to pay an annual fee, the no-fee JetBlue Card is another great secondary card option that earns 3 points on JetBlue purchases, instead of 6 points, and it also has a significantly smaller sign-up bonus of 5,000 points and does not enjoy the 10% point redemption bonus.

Starwood Preferred Guest from American Express

Annual Fee: $95 (Waived first year)

Sign-up Bonus: 30,000 Starpoints after spending $3,000

The Starwood Preferred Guest from American Express is probably the best hotel rewards credit card. The Starwood SPG hotel loyalty program is one of the best due to its low reward night point requirements as you can easily book a night for 10,000 points or less. One benefit of the Marriott-Starwood merger, Amex SPG cardholders can also earn 2 Starpoints at any of Marriott or Ritz-Carlton property in addition to the 5 points earned at Starwood properties.

The Platinum Card from American Express

The Amex Platinum is a good premium travel rewards card option if the Chase 5/24 rule prevents you from getting approved for the Chase Sapphire Reserve. The Amex Platinum pays 5 points for plane ticket purchases directly from the airline or the Amex Travel portal and 1 point on all other purchases. Cardholders also have access to the Centurion, Delta Sky Clubs, and Airspace lounge networks.

Chase Sapphire Preferred

The Chase Ultimate Rewards Program is often considered the best travel rewards program currently on the market. You can earn 2 points for every $1 spent on travel purchases and 1 point on everything else. When redeemed for travel rewards using the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal, each Chase point is worth 1.25 cents each with the Sapphire Preferred. This means the 50,000 point sign-up bonus is worth $625 in award travel with Chase. You can also transfer points on a 1:1 basis, potentially increasing their value, to other participating airline and hotel travel partners such as United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Singapore Airways, Hyatt, and Marriott.

Chase Sapphire Reserve

Annual Fee: $450

Sign-Up Bonus: 100,000 Chase Points after spending $4,000

Introduced in August of 2016, the Sapphire Reserve is the literal definition of an overnight success. The Reserve earn 3 points on travel purchases and 1 point on everything else. When redeemed for travel rewards via Chase, each Ultimate Rewards point is worth 1.5 cents each or they can be transferred on a 1:1 ration to one of the Chase travel partners.